WASHINGTON—Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez today applauded President Bush's intention to nominate Christopher A. Padilla to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. Padilla presently serves as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.
"Trade is vital to America's strength and dynamism, and rising exports are contributing to our economic growth. Chris Padilla has been involved in virtually every major U.S. trade issue in the last two decades, and he knows that we must continue to open new markets, promote American exports, and aggressively implement U.S. trade laws and agreements.
"As we work to implement new Free Trade Agreements, push for completion of the WTO Doha negotiations, and prepare for the next meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), Chris Padilla will be a strong advocate for open markets and U.S. workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers. I hope the Senate will act quickly on his nomination." Background If confirmed, Mr. Padilla would lead the International Trade Administration, which participates in the development of U.S. trade policy; identifies and resolves market access and compliance issues; administers U.S. trade laws; and undertakes a range of trade promotion and trade advocacy efforts. The International Trade Administration has more than 2,000 dedicated individuals posted at U.S. embassies and commercial offices around the world.
In his present position at the Commerce Department, Mr. Padilla is responsible for U.S. export controls on items restricted for national security reasons, and for industry compliance with international treaties governing chemical and biological weapons. Previously he served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State.
As Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison he played an important outreach role with key stakeholders in the trade community, and he managed the free trade area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial in Miami in November of 2003, hosted by the United States. In particular, his experience in helping to lead the administration's successful effort to pass CAFTA-DR will help in the push for congressional passage of four pending FTAs: Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea.. He worked in a number of positions at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, including international marketing, international business development, and government affairs. Later, he was Director of International Trade Relations at Eastman Kodak Company. He holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in international studies from Johns Hopkins University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
